


Through the darkest night

by Pseudo_Nerd



Category: Political RPF, Political RPF - France 21st c., Political RPF - Spain 21st c.
Genre: COVID, Gen, Pandemics, implicatedsancron, latenightconversation, natoboygroup, nightly breakdown, phonecall, veryslightmentionofmacdeau, videocall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:54:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26881771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pseudo_Nerd/pseuds/Pseudo_Nerd
Summary: Pedro has had an especially bad day and is in desperate need for some company. Fortunately Emmanuel knows exactly how to cheer him up. Even if it requires some back-up.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	Through the darkest night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MacdeauShipper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacdeauShipper/gifts).



> Since the latest lockdown due to Covid in Madrid I had this very heart-breaking but cute image that wouldn't leave my head. So I had to write it down. As usual, I don't mean to offend anyone by writing this fic, quite the opposite even.

Pedro Sanchez shuts the door behind him and closes his eyes. It’s the first time since he got up about 20 hours ago that he gets a moment of quietness.  
Of course, the past months were extremely hectic but today has been an especially stressful day.

Since the Covid-Cases literally exploded, the Spanish Government had to establish a new lockdown in Madrid - meaning the whole city hates him, the prime minister, for locking them at home. Or at least that’s how it feels.  
He realizes that he’s about to cry as he’s taking a deep breath and starting to shake. The emotions he’s been repressing the whole day - anger, fear, frustration - are finally catching up with him and the man lets himself slide down his office-door and onto the ground, letting his tears flow. Here he can finally allow himself to break down with no people, no cameras around him, judging ever single of his movements.  
It's taking him a few minutes to calm down again, but he still feels extremely fragile. And lonely.

Pedro finally draws his phone out of his pocket and opens his contact list. It’s a long scroll but he eventually arrives at the phone number of the person his mind went to first. The only man he knows he can fully trust and who will understand his problems because he’s facing the exact same situation in his country, just next to himself.

The only one he knows for sure to be still awake.

The spanish hesitates for a second, wondering if it would be wiser to text and ask first if the timing is good but if the other doesn’t want or can’t talk to him right now, he can always hang up first. His finger eventually hits the call-button and he lifts the phone to his ear, still sitting on the floor. It’s no more than a few seconds until the call gets picked up.  
“Buenas Noches señor,” says the warm voice on the other end of the line and Pedro can immediately feel himself relax a bit.  
“Bonsoir Emmanuel…” But his voice is shaky and he needs a moment to sort his thoughts before he speaks up again.  
“Emmanuel, I-”  
“I know,” cuts the french. “I saw you on TV earlier...you hid it pretty well but I could read all of it in your eyes”  
Pedro frowns. “What exactly?”  
“All these emotions...it’s okay, do you hear me? You had no other choice than to lock the city down. It’s okay. They won’t all understand but you did what needed to be done to protect your people. Okay…? Pedro?”  
Tears are falling down the cheeks of the spanish again, followed by heavy sobs and deep irregular breaths.   
“I...I know...but...but I don’t know how to…”  
“Pedro, listen to me, please. Take your time, breathe, calm down and then you tell me about what worries you, okay?”

He doesn’t answer, but Emmanuel waits patiently for his friend to calm down again and speak next. There’s no pressure between them, no annoyance and even if they’re only on the phone, the spanish feels strangely comforted by only the soft voice of his counterpart talking to him.  
It takes roughly a minute until the tears stop and the Prime Minister starts to speak again.  
“Thank you...I-I know there’s no other choice, but...you know how it goes...a-and, of course, I understand that it’s ruining lives and stores, but…” He sighs very deeply. “Where’s the fucking pause-button…?”

“I’ll let you know when I find it,” the french eventually answers, making Pedro laugh slightly. “Are you even searching for it? You’re the most hard-working man I know…”  
“Well, my wife said I already stumbled upon it but chose to ignore it again and again"  
“That’s probably not wrong…”  
They both chuckle and the older tries to repress a yawn that’s coming up and making him realize the late hour.  
“I should probably go to bed...”  
“Are you still feeling guilty?” questions the french.  
“No, it's...okay”

“Say that again without lying…”

Pedro realizes that he might have been a bit too fast to answer - but it’s true, he lied and Emmanuel saw right through it.  
“Well, I won’t let you go to bed with that mindset, señor...Would you mind if we switched to video call?”  
“If you’re more comfortable with it.”  
“Okay, wait a second, I’ll call you back immediately,” Emmanuel answers and hangs up. In the meantime Pedro finally gets up from the floor and turns on the light in his office, sitting down at the far more comfortable chair at his desk, phone in front of him. But Emmanuel takes a long time to call back, making his colleague wonder if there may be some emergency. Just as he’s worrying that he indeed will have to go to bed with these dark thoughts in his head, his phone indicates an incoming video call.  
Relieved to not have been abandoned Pedro takes the call right away but frowns deeply when he sees three more people besides the french president.

“I hope you don’t mind: I got some back-up…” Emmanuel explains with a little grin and the other grin too.

Pedro, as well as pretty much everyone in NATO and EU, knows that the four men are very close but he’s still surprised to now also have Charles Michel, Justin Trudeau and Xavier Bettel on his phone screen, smiling at him even though the luxembourgian looks dead-tired and probably got woken up by their common friend.  
“We heard you had some trouble sleeping...” he begins nonetheless.  
“...and coping with the situation...” adds Charles.  
“...which is totally understandable...” Justin says.  
“...and we won’t let you go to bed until we resolve that matter,” concludes Emmanuel, smiling and being obviously proud of himself. His smile only enlarges when he sees Pedro smile in return, completely unable to hide his happiness and thankfulness, let alone his warmed heart.  
“But for the record,” he then declares, “technically it was Emmanuel who kept me from even thinking about going to sleep because he suggested that video call…”  
“I can imagine...but trust me, you’ll feel better afterward. And sleep better,” Justin declares.  
"Manu knows exactly how to lift spirits and we are happy to help our pretty boy and you," Xavier adds with a smirk and Pedro could bet that the other one just blushed. "Stop it, Xav'… I just got a good intuition and know when to leave a man alone. And when not. And in times like these, a little company can do a lot…" 

"I appreciate that company very much," Pedro starts, suddenly feeling his responsibility kicking in, "...but I really don't want to keep either of you from sleeping. You're equally stressed as me and it's way past midnight..."  
"Well, not here..." the Canadian grins.  
"Shut up, honey," Emmanuel replies playfully. "Pedro, really, it's alright. I'm still working, so is Charles. And Xavier-"  
"-should be in bed judging by his clothes, am I right?" the spanish interrupts, acknowledging the pajama the man is wearing. 

"I was on my way to bed, yes, but I usually read for half an hour before going to sleep anyway. So I might as well talk to you guys," Xavier explains.  
"Or sometimes he calls me after movie-night, crying about the movies his husband chose because they had such a sweet ending, right Xavier?" Charles adds, making everyone laugh. "Excuse me, that's private stuff!" the younger responses, only half-serious. "And you would cry too..."

The five of them keep chatting for a while until Justin has to continue working and Xavier almost falls asleep in front of his phone. Charles soon leaves the video-chat too, wanting to grab some rest too and so it's only Pedro and Emmanuel who keep smiling at each other. "See, it was a good idea... right?"

"It was. I'm still feeling pretty exhausted but definitely less terrible...and that's no lie this time, please believe me..."  
"I do," the french smiles. "At least you don't look like you're about to cry anymore..."  
They exchange another smile.  
"Do you do that often? Calling your boys for a late-night rescue?" Pedro finally questions, wanting to understand the dynamic of the group he just interacted with.  
"Well..." Emmanuel begins but stops midsentence, his eyes drawn to something behind the phone screen. But then he begins to smile and calls his dog who just entered into his office, curiously drawn by the voice of his human. "You know Némo?" he questions the Spanish and turns the camera towards the black pet, now standing next to the president's chair.  
"He's adorable," Pedro smiles.  
"Oh yes..." Emmanuel laughs, opening a drawer in his desk and gifting his pet with some snacks.

"So, where were we?" he finally questions while petting the dog's head that's now found a resting place in his lap.  
"You and the others...do you often video chat? And saving exhausted Prime Ministers from dark thoughts?" Pedro asks.

"Well, we do video-chat most of the time. We rarely see each other, even less now as you can imagine...but we get along very well, not only on a professional but on a personal level too. Xavier and Charles have been friends for many years now and Justin always hung around with them at the NATO summits...I'm incredibly lucky to have had the chance to, well, join them too when I appeared on the international stage...they kind of adopted me, to be honest," Emmanuel laughs.  
"I can imagine," Pedro answers. "And I agree, it feels incredibly good to have someone who you know will understand you when you talk about your work...that's the reason I called you actually..."

"I know. And it's alright. I told you a billion times, I'm there. You're a good man, Pedro. And regarding the others, Justin likes you, very much even, Xav does too, you heard him, and well, Charles just wants to hold everything together...so I promise, no one was bothered by this call. Except maybe our respective partners who will kill us for going to bed that late again, but that's not yours to worry about"  
They laugh again, Emmanuel now alone again after Némo felt slightly bored in his company.

"And to answer your other question, last week we had a similar call with Giusseppe. You're not the only exhausted one breaking down at night..."

"But one of the very few who get the privilege of being comforted by you guys?"  
"Yes, I admit that... but with all of the stuff going on in the world all we can do is try to help each other," the french concludes.  
A silence settles between them, both knowing that there indeed isn't much they can do against the chaos they are facing, on a national as well as an international level.

"I really should go to bed..." Pedro finally sighs, feeling heavy tiredness kicking in.  
"Yes, you should," answeres the french, still smiling.  
"Are you going to bed too soon?"  
"I'm used to staying up long after dark, don't worry about me," Emmanuel explains, but failing to convince his colleague.  
"It's only fair for me to worry since you worried about me the whole night, don't you think?" They share a laugh again and Emmanuel lifts his hand as a sign of compliance. "Okay, okay...you're not wrong. Thanks for caring about me."  
"As I said, you're the most hard-working man I know; we really have to keep an eye on you"  
They exchange another smile and the french nods, having heard that sentence way too many times already from his wife, friends, and family.

"So, good night then?"  
"Good night, Pedro. Sleep well, grab some rest. You can do this, okay? We'll get through this together."  
"We will...sleep well yourself. Good night..."  
"Even the darkest nights will end and the sun will rise..." Emmanuel adds, a meaningful look on his face.  
"That's...Les Miserables, right?" Pedro tries and the other smiles broadly. "Oh good...that would have been embarrassing if I didn't know...okay, good night now."  
"Good night."

They exchange one last smile and hang up. Pedro closes his eyes once more. It's way past his bedtime and he can feel tiredness taking the best of him but he feels less terrible than before. And he's incredibly glad to know that he can count on his french counterpart, not only in international business but also on private matters.

On his way into bed, he reflects on their call, with Emmanuel's words still stuck in his head. They'll get through it together.  
Yes. They have to. Though there's no doubt that this pandemic will get the best of them. But he feels brave enough again to face this storm, with Emmanuel and the others by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think about this short One-Shot in the comments! I promise I won't bite.


End file.
